Time to listen to Mr Micawber

I was sitting in the Barbers having my hair cut. They were chatting about the recession when this old boy said "well there's no recession if you are a pensioner, we've got a guaranteed income".

Now this is contrary to what you normally hear. Most pensioners will tell you how they are struggling and it's a choice of paying for heat or food. This old boy said "well most of 'em don't pay rent or council tax" ... "they expect to much".

I asked if my Dad had walked through the door! He's always moaning about his fellow pensioners. "You hear them on the bus moaning about how short they are of money, but you also see them buying loads of scratch cards".

That's the thing if you've made no provision for your old age then all you can expect is to your ctax and rent paid and you have a some of money for food etc. As my dad says don't complain about it, it was your choice very often. Mum and Dad were never well paid but they worked hard and "cut their cloth accordingly". They had a decent retirement with 4 holidays a year until Mum was ill.

Anyway you may have noticed we are in recession. Things are pretty bad. But the thing is it we are in danger of talking ourselves in to a damn sight worse. Obviously if you have lost your job (and I do sympathise, happened to me twice) things are tough but for the rest of us? What's the point of stopping spending? Companies will have less profit and will lay off staff, banks will see companies as less profitable and refuse to loan money etc etc.

Its very simple don't spend more than you have!! Its a philosophy my folks drummed into me.

As Mr Micawber would say:

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery.